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DAZ Productions, Inc.
224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
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© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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It is generally best practice to not mix stuff installed via DIM, with anything you install manually (for example products from stores other than DAZ, or freebies). For content from these other sources I would recommend installing them in a location of your choice, and then add that directory to both the DAZ and Poser format lists in Content Library.
Smart content is a different matter, it is very useful where available, but it is critical you still understand how things work in the Content Library. If your content is not specified in the content library, then Smart Content is not going to be able to find it.
Okay...so Singular Blues says one library, and Havos says two...
Well, apparently I already have two and that's why I'm having such a mess...
I think...
Note that Smart Content is not a view of your content files; it's a filtered and sorted view of a database of links to where D|S assumes your content files have been installed. If you don't add a newly saved scene/pose/whatever to your content database, it won't show up in Smart Content. The database also controls what you see in the Categories and Products sections of the Content Library tab.
The other parts of Content Library, on the other hand (DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats), are a direct list of all the files installed in the folder D|S has been told is a content location. They also show directly any files you save into that content folder.
Thanks Spotted Kitty, but it knows of my two library locations (in my private documents and in the public documents), so it seems to me if I save a pose to the private documents folder where all my other pose files are, then it should recognize it correct? And it should show up in Smart Content with the others, as well as Content Library.
Not really.
About mix or not mixing with DIM. The issue here is that DIM does it's own thing, so if you already have files from a product, DIM will overwrite them. If they've been updated they may not work properly, and stuff. Dim keeps it's own records of whats what.
On the other hand, you're living one possible outcome of two Content Directories. It's PITA. IMO, the KISS principle applies and one is simpler than 2, which is twice as complex. How you go is going to be a matter of which headaches you're willing to put up with.
As far as the Content Database knowing your stuff exists,there's no ironclad reason it should.
Daz files are created with a certain amount of meta data. More over, install packages contain additional metadata. It's the metadata that goes into the Content db. now, saving pose has some metadat but there's no reason for Studio to hand that metadata to the Content db. The db is a separate process from studio. If you watch the text on the loading screen you will see Studio helpfully inform you it is connecting to the Content db.
If the content db did not inculde your private folders when it set itself up, it doesn't contain them now, and updating info to it is going to be hit or miss. In fact it could be as simple as the DB has crashed out and that's why it's not updating your new item. It could be something else.
Because the whole metadata thing is not consistently and automatically performed by Studio, and because of the range of products that simply don't have metadata, I don't bother with the thing. It's just wasting my CPU trying to keep track of massive mess. But that's me. I can't offer much on how to fix it other than there are methods and commands for telling the system to rebuild itself, and it will pull the basic metadata from files that contain, even if there's no extended data to go with it. It wouldn't catagorize a pose as a type, for example, but it would identify it as a pose.
I dunno, is it just me, or does it seem somewhat insane that if the Content Directory Manager lists your two Library locations (private documents and public documents), it doesn't (or may not) see content in both those directories?? Hard to believe.
Now I can somewhat understand I suppose if it's not DAZ store content, and doesn't have the necessary metadata. But geez, if it comes from the DAZ store, or worse yet, is generated by DAZ Studio (eg, saved as a pose file), then it seems ludicrous it can't recognize it all over the databases.
I see the database tools DAZ provides, stuff like "re-import metadata" and "reset database" but there ain't no way I'm gonna try that without knowing exactly what I'm in for. Worlds will collide....
No it won't — Smart Content isn't looking at whatever files might happen to be inside known folders, it's looking at individual files that have been explicitly added to the database.
I actually have 5 different locations where I install content, and have them all added to the content library, so I have no issues with it.
Regarding "re-import metadata" and "reset database" you should realise what they do, and use them, as occasionally the metadata can get out of sync and needs to be refreshed. You need to save your user data first, and then reset the database, then reimport all the products. Each step is only a few clicks, and the final step will also reimport your user data.
Unlike Singular Blue, I do use Smart Content massively. I find it a huge time saver, particularly for applying shaders, which I do a lot when converting older products to Iray shaders. Naturally some people do not like it, but I would urge you to try it out and see it helps you, and then make your own choice if you wish to use it or not. I personally use it less for finding my own poses etc, like you are trying to do, but meta data is added by DS when you save assets/poses etc, and this is in the user data that you should save before resetting the database.
Okay, so if you save a pose as a pose preset to a library it knows about (and is listed in the Content Management listing) and has previously automatically added poses saved to that location to Smart Content, are you saying I still have to add that pose to the database, even though other times I didn't?
So when you save a scene at it automatically shows up in Smart Content, are you saying I still need to add it to the database somehow?
This video explains Smart Content.
Hmm... this is getting beyond what I know about how Smart Content etc. and the content database work. Maybe someone else should take over this bit of the discussion.
No, if an item appears in Smart Content, then by definition it's in the database.
Thanks, but all it tells me is there's yet another place to look to find content....in the Smart Content/Products tab.
So now we have Smart Content Products, Smart Content Files, Content Library, and then all the subsections under Content Library (Categories, My Library, My DAZ 3D Library...).
I have never used Smart Content or Connect - I even hide the Smart Content tab. This discussion is confirming that I should keep it that way and just use DIM. By the way - I don't have any content in public folders - that is by choice. Everything is in my personal user folders.
You are absolutely right.
All of your content should be available in the Content Library tab, although some of it may be in odd places, for example characters under Presets. Some of your conten, and most of the more recent releases may be found under the Smart Content tab. Personally, the Smart Content never did anything I wanted, so I deleted the tab. I believe there is a way to add your own content into smart content, but obviously I never looked into it. Personally, I suggest customizing your contnet library, it can make things much easier to find. A word of warning, I don't know if customizing your content library will mess up your smart content.
If you go into your Libraries > Documents > My DAZ 3D Library folder, you can move most items in the top layer folders to other folders. Do not move items in the data or Runtime folders. There are a lot of characters that get placed in the Presets folder which make more sense to me being in the People > Genesis x > Character folder. Clothes tend to be in folders based on the PA's name, which doesn't do much for me, so I move them into folders for the product. Figure out a system that makes sense to you and you should be able to find your content much more quickly.
The only thing you want to rearrange in the Runtime folder is in the Libraries subfolder. If you use Poser, you want to leave the files in the main folder they are in, such as Character, Hair, or Pose. If you only use DAZ Studio, you can ignore this restriction. As an example, I have a Runtime > Libraries > Characters > David 3 folder which has Morphs, Mats, Characters, Clothes, Hair, Poses, and Props subfolders. When setting it up, I place all specificaly David 3 content from the Character, Hair, Pose, and Props folders in the David 3 folder. This way all my David 3 resources are located together. Some things like hair can be used for multiple fiures, so I may have duplicate copies of hair files in my Michael 3 and Hiro 2 folders.
I hope this helps you figure out how to tame the chaos in the Content Library tab. You may also want to check out the free Great Art Now tutorials by Dreamlight here in the DAZ store. There are 11 free tutorials which were designed for DAZ Studio 4.5 which applies equally well to 4.9, although they won't cover Iray materials and shaders. The Quickstart and 1.1 will probably be the most helpful for this topic. You may be able to find other tutorials on YouTube which can help.
Actually, it isn't as complicated as that. Finding and accessing your content is really only done in one of two ways: through the Smart Content tab, or through the Content Library tab. there are no "Smart Content Files" perse. They are merely a different way of presenting the content to the user. However, not all content is Smart Content enabled. Most products obtained through the DAZ store are, as they contain the necessary metadata to make them appear in the Smart Content pane. Products obtained elsewhere, whether free or purchased, will not contain metadata, and so will not show up under Smart Content - you must access those through the Content Library tab.
As for the options under the Content Library tab, simply pick the one that works best for you and stick with it. Some people like it one way, others like it another. I myself prefer not to use products or categories, but others swear by their choices. Choice is good. The two things that are important are those DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats, as those can help find what you are looking for if you know the difference. Most older content (pre Genesis) will be Poser Format, as well as lots of content from other sites. Some content may support both, so you need to ensure you look first under DAZ Studio Formats for things like Shaders and Materials to ensure compatibility. It certainly can be confusing at first to the novice, but eventually you'll get the hang of it.
About content simply not showing up, you mention that you have two content folders and that both are correctly identified in the Content Directory Manager. Are they both identified twice? They should be - each one should be entered once under DAZ Studio Formats and once under Poser Formats = four entries. If not, either the Poser format content will not show up, or the DAZ Studio format content won't.
You could get the database engine to search your hard drive(s) for content, but I would personally stay away from that, since it will record any content it can find anywhere including temporary folders, etc. and possibly produce duplicate file records.
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you all. Ok, I get the files manually. I extract to C:/program files (x86)/DAZ 4. If this is wrong, let me know proper order to extract the files. I will delete all Daz from computer and start over fresh. Also, where would files hide like the I think the CMS files? That way I can delete all files. I have over 20 DVD's full of Daz stuff. And my download file is full again. I need help to start over with no Daz on computer. Thank you all so much.
Pam
I would not recommend putting your content under C:/program files (x86) or C:/program files, or C:/Windows
Other than that, you can put your files anywhere on your C drive, or other drives. However the critical point is to ensure that whatever directory you choose is the one added to both the DAZ and poser format library list under the Content Library tab.
I would still recommend using DIM to install the content, as this activates the CMS to set up the smart content automatically. However if you do stick to manually installing, you can always set up the Smart Content metadata manually using "Import metadata".
Went to go download my Daz 4.8 again and it won't let me. Only Daz 4.9 can be downloaded. And I don't want it. Thanks a lot DAZ.
Ok, here is what I have done. I tried the Daz 4.9. It crashed my computer and it took me hours to get it to turn back on. I want my Daz 4.8 back.
Daz can you re-activate my Daz 4.8. Or give me the link to the page that I got it from. Or is that page no longer working?